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Which type of creatine is the best?

Creatine is a substance ( nitrogenousorganic acid) which is found in the human body, mostly(95% of it) in the skeletal muscles. It was first discovered in 1832, by Michel Eugène Chevreul, and he named it after the greek word: meat.

You can find creatine in meat, fish, and is produced by the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. Of course there is a syntethetic version too, sold as supplements. There are many versions of creatine: monohydrate, phosphate, ethyl esther, tri and di creatine malate. All of these are different in absorbtion rate, and have different solubility in water.

Creatine monohydrate is the oldest form of creatine. There are many studies about this type of creatine, and they showed that it is effective. It’s cheap price makes it one of the most popular supplements on the market. However, it has some disadvantages too, like: doesn’t dissolve easily in water, and some people do not respond to it, while others can experience bloating, and stomach discomfort, if they take too much.

The good news is, that most of these problems are solved by micronized creatine, which is still monohydrate, but the particles are much smaller, increasing it’s efficiency, but of course it is more expensive too.

Creatine Ethyl Ester is one of the most efficient forms of creatine, because of the attached ester molecule. It is absorbed 99%, and it can be mixed with water easily. However, it tastes bad in po 6ized monohydrate.

Di and Tri creatine malate has another type of molecule attached to creatine, to increase the absorbtion rate. The tri version is the more efficient one, because it has 3 creatine molecules attached to malic acid, while di has only 2. This form of creatine provides quick recovery, and as the others cell volumization, and it can be mixed with water. Unfortunately this is an expensive version, because of the added molecules.

So, which is the best creatine? And, the answer is: creatine ethyl ester. Why? Because it is not much more expensive than the micronized version, and it has more advantages like: no loading phase is needed, and that the body absorbs almost all of it. Also it lacks the side effects of monohydrate.

Now you know which form of creatine should you take, but still there are a few remaining questions, like: why should you take it? How much should you take ? Are there any side effects ? How it works?

You should take it if you are doing sports, where high intesity training, for a short period of time is the key to success, like weight lifting, and sprinting , then it increases energy levels, and strength, leading to building lean muscle mass. Creatine has also other uses, it can help with certain type of heart diseases, muscular distrophy, and even Parkinson’s disease.

From the monohydrate version, the typical loading phase can be around 0,3 g/kg or around 20 g in total, while the maintenance phase is around 2-5 g of creatine daily.

Creatine is labelled as safe supplement, however, if you overdose it, it can lead to more serious complications , not just bloating, and stomach discomfort. The body can stop creating creatine on its own, and also it can lead to kidney damage too.

In order to be effective, creatine first needs to be converted to creatine phosphate, and then stored in the muscles. When you do exercises with high intesity, for short period of time, like: weightlifting, and sprinting, this creatine phosphate is converted into ATP, which is the main source of energy for the human body. Always remember to drink plenty of water, when consuming creatine.